The Plague In Poe's The Masque Of The Red Death

The Plague

Everybody must die soon. There was one situation that was causing several people to die. This time it was not war or people killing each other. People now were living life in an innocent way. They were doing their best to make a living for their homes. The families had no idea that the smallest thing in their home or running around their town would be the main reason to wipe out their entire towns. People feared this bacterium and tried their very best to stay far away from it but there was no way to hide the plague. Plague has been around for several years and caused so much damage throughout its time. Poe’s book “The Masque of the Red Death is a perfect example on how people considered this disease. It focuses on one main event

There were several different ways that people died in the medieval time. Studies say” that the top four reason were the plague, traveling, famine, and childbirth.” (Emma 1-4). Plague is a contagious illness transmitted to humans by infected rat fleas. These rats were considered “house and ship rats.” Where ever humans lived, these rats would follow. The roads were bare and several people lived on the streets. During that time, there was not a cure to the plague disease. It was impossible to fight it. If anybody was affected with this disease they needed treatment within 24 hours. Humans whom met this disease was already dead. There are three different types of plague disease (Bubonic, Pneumonic, and Septicemic). Each plague disease affected the lymph, lungs, and the blood. Studies say, “these diseases are made up of Yersinia Pestis” ( Minnaganti 1) it was named after a guy named Alexander Yersi. The plague was mainly found in rats, squirrels, and mice. Many people had mammals

This time was 527-565 CE. The sixth century. Studies claim that “this disease killed millions of live. It also spread across the Mediterranean for about 225 years”( William 3). Justinian was the empire of his town which was Egypt. During this time, the black rat was the main mammal caring the disease infecting several humans. It traveled across Asia, North Africa, Arabia, and Europe. This is when the Black Death came into the picture. The Black Death occurred during the 13 centuries. This time the plague occurred in Europe. Studies say it was the greatest catastrophe ever (Benedictow, 2008). several countries suffered from this disease. Studies show that “the black death killed about 60 percent of Europe’s population” (Benedictow, 2008). This disease also killed several people in Africa, China, and India. This disease affected so many people that many towns were left empty. There was nobody around to bury the bodies. In Europe, every time a human died they would ring the church bell. At one point, there was so any death the church decided not to ring the bell. In Poe story, he uses a clock to represent somebody dying every hour. He says, “every time the clock struck the audiences dreams and hopes would freeze” (Poe 72) the audience known they would have to face death soon. As the plague disease continued to travel through the time line, it finally reaches the modern day. The third main event was the